Jim Templin:
CLASS OF 1982
Andover High SchoolClass of 1982
Bloomfield hills, MI
Jim's Story
The story so far....
Wandered for a while after HS. Concerts, parties etc, Moved to Chicago put myself through college and spent 13 years there. Sold high end camera eq during college, Got to work with some Chicago photographers. Some of this involved Playboy Magazine. Not anywhere near what you think. It was hard work. I got to meet the "bring your Visa card" guy in 1986. Learned I would never be a pro photographer. Very tough business. Started selling computers. Met my first wife. Learned many important lessons about life in Chicago. Never let you boss tell you "your a loser". Always immediately ask "Are you firing me?", then put on an evil grin and walk away no matter what the answer, Sales management has not changed in 200 years or more. Another lesson from Chicago getting any govt employee to do anything for you requires some form of bribe. If they were elected it is even worse.
Finally got a job as a network engineer in 96 at a little Internet service provider startup. It was awesome. I learned more on that job than any other time in my life, Got married to wife #1.
Y2K what a let down that was, had to skip new years eve that year because I was on-call in case it all exploded.
Startup got bought by major US Internet co and they moved me out of the mid-west snow zone. Had a great time at major US Internet co. Made a lot of lifelong friends and business contacts. First wife asked for a divorce and moved out. Serendipity reconnected me with a woman from Lahser, I had dated during my wandering period. Finalized divorce of the first wife after 9/11. Dot bomb hit, ouch! Endured five or more rounds of RIFs at big Internet co. Wow it sucks to watch hundreds of your friends lose their jobs without notice., Big Internet co kept promoting me and throwing money. Had a great time with the GF. About 03 she stopped taking my calls. Clueless me, still with an EQ of zero, She wanted a ring. Big Internet co got bought by the worlds largest phone company (not AT&T - you silly American). It was kind of cool being a top contributor...Expand for more
at a 65000+ employee company.. It certainly was the best paying job I've had so far. But at times the environment was toxic. Learned some Japanese there and found that Americans are not the smartest people, Americans are the most clever and innovative. There is a lot to be said for American rebellious "free spirit", even if we are fat and lazy :-)
Never forget the quote "I fear we may have awoken a sleeping bear"
Took a bunch of time to get the GF back but we finally got married. Quit the biggest phone company and moved to Silicon Valley to be with my new wife. Wow that was a hard period after the Internet bubble. Could not find a decent job in SV. People were leaving left and right like rats from a sinking ship. I was looking for a job in a market that had expectations of genius. I'm smart, but not SV smart. Most of the people I have met and worked with in SV are pretty dang smart.
LESSON: In SV NEVER EVER EVER wear a suit to a technical interview.
Didn't think we were going to be able to have kids, but it was not stressing us. BAM! Had a baby. She is the cutest little ball of energy. I love her more than any words can ever describe. I hope I'm as good a dad as she thinks. Truly a force of nature to be reckoned with.
After I lived in SV for a while I made some friends and got into a struggling niche software company that went broke two years later, We had already started on a new product the venture cap people that had been keeping us running, did not want to fund. We knew it was a good idea and people would buy it. So eight of us started a company. It's been 4 years now and things are going very well.
So, now I'm here writing this silly synopsis of my life story with an espresso and a view of the Pacific Ocean from the kitchen table out of my backyard. I get to see blue whales right from my backyard. My daughter and I go biking at the beach. I never in a million years could have imagined this is where I would be today. MY LIFE IS GOOD! I hope yours is as well. Have a great day! :-)
jimtempl <at> AOL <dot> com
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